The Washington Institute for Near East Policy is a foreign-affairs think tank that has played an influential role in shaping perspectives on the Arab world, Iran, Turkey, the Israel-Palestine conflict, terrorism, and related issues among American lawmakers, mil­­itary leaders, and intelligence officials. Founded in 1985, the Institute has also produced alumni who went on to hold influential government positions themselves. The Washington Institute claims to reject “romantic” perspectives on the Middle East and to offer “disinterested” analyses of the region’s affairs. ¹

However,  observers across the political spectrum have suggested that the institute actually does operate on an ideological premises: both centrist and libertarian sources have tied it to the “neoconservative” label notably associated with the George W. Bush administration, which pushed for and initiated the Iraq War. ^{2 3} The founder of the Washington Institute, Barbi Weinberg, has maintained close ties to advocates for Israel throughout her career. ⁴

The Biden administration appointed Washington Institute fellows Michael Singh and Kathryn Wheelbarger to the United States Institute of Peace board of directors. Singh formerly worked for the George W. Bush administration and the 2012 presidential campaign of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R). Wheelbarger is a vice president at Lockheed Martin and was previously a counselor to George W. Bush administration Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. ⁵

Policy Philosophy

The Washington Institute states that its goal is to provide “dispassionate” analysis of Middle Eastern affairs. At the same time, it identifies what it considers to be priorities that should shape American involvement in the region, including promotion of democracy and economic prosperity. ⁶

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has identified the Washington Institute as existing within the neoconservative foreign policy sphere, pointing out its push for what it called “democratic universalism” in a region not necessarily open to pluralistic electoral politics. ⁷ The libertarian anti-war Ron Paul Institute also labeled the Washington Institute as neoconservative, bringing particular attention to the organization’s perceived dogmatic commitment to the political establishment of Israel. ⁸

Policy Positions

The institute endorsed the efforts of the United States-led coalition in Iraq to build a new government for the country after invading it in 2003, and a 2004 report by then-General David Petraeus claimed that the situation there was “much more manageable” than it looked to domestic observers. ⁹

The institute published a report on the Afghan War in 2012, more than a decade after the initial invasion, in which it argued that the United States government should adopt a narrative that withdrawing would lead to greater problems, hoping that Americans would be receptive to this claim. ¹⁰

The institute released a retrospective on the Arab Spring protests in 2021, arguing that they had produced a number of Arab state leaders who were “highly attuned to public opinion.” The institute also touted the fact that many of the new governments had settled into coexistence with the state of Israel and were opposed to Iran. ¹¹

Leadership

The Washington Institute was founded by Barbi Weinberg, the wife of Larry Weinberg, the former president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Barbi Weinberg was also once the head of the Los Angeles, California Jewish Federation Council and a promoter of the World Alliance for Israel Public Action Committee. ^{12 13}

Robert Satloff is the current executive director of the Washington Institute, having assumed the position in January 1993. ¹⁴

Board of Advisors

Henry Kissinger is a member of the institute’s board of advisors. He was the Secretary of State under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. ¹⁵ Left-of-center and anti-war critics have attacked Kissinger for his alleged role in authorizing the bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War, as well as for other allegedly criminal actions during the conflict. ¹⁶

Condoleezza Rice is a member of the institute’s board of advisors. She was the Secretary of State under President George W. Bush. ¹⁷ Rice advocated for the Iraq War and helped promote the narrative that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was preparing “weapons of mass destruction” (WMDs) for potential use against the United States and its allies. While the George W. Bush administration’s claims later turned out to be false, Rice has claimed that she had “never seen clearer indications” at the time and that the Bush White House did not distort the findings for political purposes. ¹⁸

Influence

In May 2022, the Biden administration nominated Washington Institute fellows Michael Singh and Kathryn Wheelbarger to the board of directors of the United States Institute of Peace. Singh is the institute’s managing director and formerly worked under the George W. Bush Administration, where he was the senior director for Middle East affairs on the National Security Council and an assistant to secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, who now sits on the institute’s board of advisors. He was also an advisor on Middle East issues to the 2012 presidential campaign of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R). Wheelbarger is a vice president with the major defense contractor Lockheed Martin, and previously held a variety of positions in federal agencies and on Capitol Hill. She was also a counselor to Michael Chertoff, who was the Secretary of Homeland Security under Republican President George W. Bush but went on to endorse former Secretary of State and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. ^{19 20}

In 2021, then-Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who later ascended the throne of Abu Dhabi and the Presidency of the United Arab Emirates, received the Institute’s Scholar-Statesman Award for his work on religious tolerance and international dialogue. The Institute’s executive director flew to Abu Dhabi to hand-deliver the award to the then-prince. ²¹

Commentary from the Institute also frequently appears in prominent U.S. media. The left-of-center investigative journalist organization ProPublica cited Washington Institute analyst Matthew Levitt in a report on former Lebanese diplomat Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi, who was arrested in March 2023 in Bucharest, Romania for allegedly directing funds to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Levitt described Bazzi as an influential collaborator not only with Hezbollah but with the government of Iran. ²² National Public Radio interviewed Institute Turkish Research Program director Soner Cagaptay on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government. ²³

Institute staff often have influential and impactful policy and political backgrounds. Senior Fellow Ben Fishman was on the Obama administration’s National Security Council and coordinated a $1 billion aid package to Jordan. He also developed and led U.S. policy supporting the 2009 Libyan uprising. ²⁴

Funding

In 2020, the Washington Institute received more than $21.5 million in revenue, almost entirely through contributions, and spent more than $14.7 million, with more than half of this sum going towards executive and staff compensation. ²⁵

1. “Our Mission & History.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/about/our-mission-history­­­­­
2. Joshua Muravchik. “The Neoconservative Persuasion and Foreign Policy.” American Enterprise Institute. December 1, 2007. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.aei.org/articles/the-neoconservative-persuasion-and-foreign-policy/
3. Lawrence Wilkerson. “The Neoconservative Comeback.” Ron Paul Institute. August 29, 2018. Accessed March 19, 2023. http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/neocon-watch/2018/august/29/the-neoconservative-comeback/
4. “Barbi Weinberg.” Center for Israel Education. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://israeled.org/barbi-weinberg-1929/
5. “Biden Nominates Michael Singh for U.S. Institute of Peace Board.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. May 25, 2022. Accessed May 19, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/about/press-room/press-release/biden-nominates-michael-singh-us-institute-peace-board
6. “Our Mission & History.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/about/our-mission-history
7. Joshua Muravchik. “The Neoconservative Persuasion and Foreign Policy.” American Enterprise Institute. December 1, 2007. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.aei.org/articles/the-neoconservative-persuasion-and-foreign-policy/
8. Lawrence Wilkerson. “The Neoconservative Comeback.” Ron Paul Institute. August 29, 2018. Accessed March 19, 2023. http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/neocon-watch/2018/august/29/the-neoconservative-comeback/
9. David Petraeus. “Lessons of the Iraq War and Its Aftermath.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. April 9, 2004. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/lessons-iraq-war-and-its-aftermath
10. Daniel Green. “Fixing Afghanistan.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. December 21, 2012. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/fixing-afghanistan
11. David Pollock. “The Arab Spring Then and Now, Through the Prism of Public Opinion.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Winter 2021. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/arab-spring-then-and-now-through-prism-public-opinion
12. “Our Mission & History.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/about/our-mission-history
13. “Barbi Weinberg.” Center for Israel Education. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://israeled.org/barbi-weinberg-1929/
14. “Robert Satloff.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/experts/robert-satloff
15. “Board of Advisors.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/about/board-advisors
16. ^[1]“Protesters heckle Kissinger, denounce him for ‘war crimes.’” The Times of Israel. January 30, 2015. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.timesofisrael.com/protesters-heckle-kissinger-denounce-him-for-war-crimes/
17. “Board of Advisors.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/about/board-advisors
18. Mark Memmott. “Pre-Iraq War Intelligence On WMDs Was Clear, Condoleezza Rice Says.” NPR. November 2, 2011. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2011/11/02/141933739/pre-iraq-war-intelligence-on-wmds-was-clear-condoleezza-rice-says
19. “Biden Nominates Michael Singh for U.S. Institute of Peace Board.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. May 25, 2022. Accessed May 19, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/about/press-room/press-release/biden-nominates-michael-singh-us-institute-peace-board
20. “Board of Advisors.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/about/board-advisors
21. Washington Institute for Near East Policy, “Institute presents prestigious scholar statesman award to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,” November 18, 2021. Accessed March 20, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/about/press-room/press-release/institute-presents-prestigious-scholar-statesman-award-abu-dhabi
22. Evan Robinson-Johnson. “Ex-Honorary Consul Accused of Financing Hezbollah Indicted on Money Laundering, Terrorism Counts.” ProPublica. March 6, 2023. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.propublica.org/article/honorary-consuls-mohammad-ibrahim-bazzi-terrorism
23. Michael Martin, Soner Cagaptay, “What President Erdogan’s future may hold after Turkey’s devastating earthquakes,” National Public Radio. March 11, 2023. Accessed March 20, 2023. https://www.mainepublic.org/2023-03-11/what-president-erdogans-future-may-hold-after-turkeys-devastating-earthquakes
24. Ben Fishman profile page, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Accessed March 20, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/experts/ben-fishman
25. ^[1]“Washington Institute for Near East Policy.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521376034